Sweets For My Sweets

These make me smile:

 Red, White and Blue Cake

Individual Apple Pies

 This was a lot of fun to make.
My first attempt at a multiple colored concoction.

I made 4 of these yesterday.

Then [upon request :)] I made 4 more today.  :)

And that was about all the energy I had. 

I hope y'all are doing well. I think of you often and hope to be back in good form soon.

Take care Tadpoles. We'll see you on the flipside.

'Cause She's My "Baby"

Hi from the back porch of our Pond!

Ask my baby, Wallene, what she would like for dinner and she will say "Chicken Pot Pie".  Even if we had it the previous night, she will eat it every day if given the option.  But it has to be me making it from my recipe.  The store bought ones are just meh - kind of okay- but home make one and the kidlet is in heaven.

Yep. You guessed it. That is what I made for dinner tonight, except I made them extra, extra special.
Well, the family thought so.
See what you think:

Individual Pot Pies!
Aren't they cute?

So cool!  I always make a full pie and we eat slices.  I couldn't resist when I saw the ramekins at Sears today and I picked up a set of 6 for $12.  The family was so surprised when they came to dinner and saw them.  I knew they were excited to be having Potpie for dinner, but to get the extra special, individual pies was a real treat.  I like them because they don't really take any longer than a whole pie and there are no fights for leftovers :) .  They came out perfect [if I do say so myself :)] and the best part is they stayed hot all the way to the last bite.  I also made what I like to call "Confetti salad". This version has diced yellow pepper, orange pepper, cucumber, tomato and red onion.    It was a very nice, very easy dinner for a rainy, cold night. 

For the info factor - These are two crust pies. We don't do one crusters. heehee  They are cheap to make - my favorite thing!  If you prepare your own pie crust they are even more inexpensive.  A can - 2 cups - of white meat chicken [$2.70], a can of low sodium chicken broth [.67 cents] and 1/2 bag - 2 cups - of frozen, mixed veggies [.60 cents] with a little flour, milk and butter and you have a meal for 4 for under $5.00!  If you buy the pie crusts it will add $2.50. Please buy the store brand crusts tho'. They are just as good as Pillsbury, promise.  I used leftover chicken from a $3.50 roaster chicken we had for dinner last night, so it was even cheaper. :)  Woohoo! [This is also an excellent use of leftovers at Thanksgiving and Christmas.]

In other news - we went grocery shopping today.  Pooldad was on call this weekend and is being paid with a $150 grocery giftcard, but we won't pick it up until tomorrow.  We decided to pop over to a different grocery store to grab a few things to tide us through a few days.  It sounded like a good plan - milk, bread, some fruit. Maybe we would spend $50, right? Yeah. No. We found so many really great deals and since I like the produce department at this store much more than at the gift card store we spent $200.  We are good for the next two weeks. heehee  I did splurge tho' and bought $17 worth of grapes [again].  I wish I liked cheaper, healthy food - but ALL the fruit is expensive and besides, these grapes are soooo good.  They'll be gone by Wednesday. Guess I will have to use that giftcard and splurge stock up on more grapes. 

Thank you for your encouraging comments on my last post. I am trying, honest.  I think you know that, but please know I haven't given up yet, and I really am trying not to. Promise.  I realize I have to keep putting one foot in front of the other and take what comes when it comes. Your good thoughts and prayers really do help. I appreciate y'all more than you know.  I hope that I can find more regular, daily life stuff to post about before my blog turns into a whiny, medical history of me 'cause that ain't no fun! :)  Thank you again for continuing to hang out with me.  It truly brings a smile to my day, everyday. 

Have a great week Tadpoles. And if you are getting a weeks worth of rain try to make the best of it. We ARE tadpoles, after all, right?  Hugs to y'all. :D 

See ya' on the flipside!

What Not To Wear

Your headphones.

While on your computer.

After ingesting a healthy dose of medication.

A medication that is guaranteed to cause nausea.

Because when the urgency to projectile vomit presents itself you will not be able to remove those puppies fast enough to avoid a small disaster.

Ask me how I know this.
Go ahead.  Ask. giggle

And you guys wonder where I have been?

In answer to all your kind queries and emails we are here, going through the motions, getting through our days as best we can.  I thank you all so much for keeping in touch. It is so nice to know I have you, my Tadpole friends.

I am sorry that I haven't felt up to responding or posting.   It has just become harder and harder to muster up enthusiasm for much of anything these days. It seems as tho' we are on the hamster wheel of health care in this country.  I am not complaining - I am thrilled I have doctors that want to treat me. Isn't insurance a wonderful thing? :sarcasm drip: - but we are growing weary of the specialists, the extra special specialists and the super dooper specialists. Oh, and let us not forget the "God's gift" of specialists.  Seems when you see one doctor you are referred to two more doctors who, in turn, refer you to even more doctors.  During all of this appointment making [or should I say "attempting to make"?], the researching, the running around and the waiting [my god, the waiting!] we find that the important questions are not being answered. Or we are given vague responses and then passed along to the next doctor.  It is frustrating to feel myself sliding backwards instead of feeling like I am moving forward.  It is scaring me. And if it isn't enough that we are challenged by the sheer number of oncologists, not to mention the upcoming transplant contingency, we have to ask, couldn't they all be located in relatively the same area?  I am not even asking for them to be in the same hospital or even the same city [they aren't] but is it really too much to have them in the same state?  Seriously.  I honestly think Maryland will be joining the queue soon.

Jeesh. I'm tired just writing all of that out. And I know it begins all again come Monday.

So that, my friends, is it in a nutshell. There are many bright sides, I assure you and I do say thank you many, many times throughout the day because I do have so much.  I know this. Still, it doesn't mitigate the fact that life IS a struggle right now and I wonder if I have enough strength for this fight.

I truly hope you all have a wonderful week.  Enjoy yourselves and keep up the shenanigans. I had a fun time catching up and can't wait to read more.

See you on the flipside Tadpoles. :)

Hiya!

See?? I'm still here!
And still smiling. :)

This is my last busy, busy weekend at home before the next round of specialists, tests and treatments begin on Monday.

If you can't tell from the pics, I am a wee bit worn out and tired, but in attempt to show my Momma [who is is in perpetual worry mode] that I am "making the effort" I tried to take a pic' of my hair and my dress. I thought I did a pretty good job [with my hair, not the pic' - argh. I suck at picture taking] but once I pulled the pics up to email her I thought "Meh. Not so much."  Try, try, try as I might I am stuck at 97 lbs. Soooo, I have decided to be happy about it, rock this stick-girl body and as long as I don't scare small children and dogs everything will be just  fine and dandy. heehee  More new clothes for me!

I am especially glad for this weekend because tonight we will pay the bills, stock the house with food and goodies and finish with a relaxing meal of homemade pizza.  I think we are going to rent "War Horse" too.   Tomorrow we pick up Squirrel at school  - YAY! - and she is home for the summer. That is the best part of the weekend [of course. :)] Tomorrow night we will celebrate "Cinco de Mayo" with delicious Mexican food and the neighbor's [illegal] fireworks display. Love it! Sunday we are going to visit the girls' Great Grandma.  She requested I bring her favorite lunch of Chicken and Dumplings and chocolate/chocolate cupcakes. I have to admit that may be my favorite meal too.

I hope y'all had a wonderful week and will have a fantastic weekend filled with family, friends, food and fun.

We'll see ya' on the flipside Tadpoles. Take care.